The present disclosure can be used in various fields and have various applications. In one such field, namely, cosmetics and hair dye preparations, the current field packages hair dyes in small containers, including but not limited to various sizes of tubes and bottles. They further provide salons with recipe chart(s) that show how much of ingredient “A” is to be mixed with how much of ingredients “B” and “C” and “D” to produce the desired end color. To produce the desired color, the colorist must first locate the required ingredients. This can be a challenge unto itself at a busy salon with multiple colorists. In addition, with as many as 60 or more ingredients in each manufacturer's colorant lines, using the correct materials in the right amounts is very important. After selecting the color to be used, the next step is to squeeze or pour the approximate amounts of each ingredient into a mixing bowl. Various coarse measurement techniques are currently used, so there is very little control over the end product. This current method employed by most salons lacks precision and control and does not ensure correct results. Stock color recipes are listed on a color chart provided by the colorant manufacturer. Color formulations are often adjusted to suit a particular customer's needs. These custom colors are typically recorded on 3×5 cards or other manually prepared means and filed away for future reference. The drawbacks to this approach include: inaccurate volumetric measurements (“add ½ capful . . . ” “squeeze tube to line . . . ”); end results that are highly dependent on operator skill level or chance; no controls are available to monitor outcomes; hand-written customer records have no backups; and the whole process is devoid of meaningful information and control. Overall, this creates a cluttered, improper, and disorganized process totally devoid of accurate measurement.
Fully-automatic computer-controlled dispensers designed for hair coloring materials were introduced in the 1990's to address the weaknesses of the current hand-mixing process. Most of these models sold for $16,000 to $26,000, making these dispensers unaffordable for virtually all salons. These dispensers automatically measured the correct amount of each ingredient with great precision and a software database stored the stock color recipes as well as specially created blends and since the formulation and customer information were stored electronically, locating the required information was easy. Files could also be backed up so valuable customer history data was more secure and easily shared with other locations.
However, these earlier automatic dispensers had one very serious drawback, they required specially-designed internal storage bags for the various color components. These bags typically were designed to hold one quart and were specially constructed to eliminate the possibility of air infiltration, which could oxidize and ruin the dye. Unfortunately, the required bulk packaging further required manufacturers to incur very sizeable, multi-million dollar capital costs to add additional filling lines to produce the special bags. Additionally, major drawbacks of the automatic dispensers included their high cost, extreme complexity, high maintenance requirements, and as noted, their requirement that hair color producers incur high cost capital investments to meet the automatic dispensers' specialized packaging requirements. Therefore, there is a need for a much simpler, more cost-effective approach and which eliminates the drawbacks of earlier designs.
A number of other fields and applications face similar problems. When a person needs to blend or mix a number of components, the need to eliminate waste, create a cost-effective approach to aid the user, and provide a process that produces the desired mixture is highly desired. There is a need to provide a monitored approach, coupled with accurate measurement means to eliminate the potential for error and improve the overall accuracy, while producing accurate measurements, information to control the whole process.